TIRUPPUR: Farmers who are part of the Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) have complained that the water released by the Water Resource Department (WRD) two weeks ago from Thirumurthy dam to the third zone for wetting purposes has not reached many places in the tail-end areas.
The farmers also plan to obtain a certificate from the Village Administrative Officer and submit it to the WRD officials.
P Velusamy, PAP Vellakoil Branch Canal Water Conservation Movement president, said, “As part of PAP, water from Thirumurthy dam was released on March 13 for the second wetting of the third zone. As per PAP, Vellakovil in Tiruppur is the tail-end area, water has not reached many places under the Vellakovil branch canal. At the same time, as the water supply date for the second wetting ends on Saturday, farmers are suffering.”
He added, “We will inspect the area that has not received water through the respective village administration officers, obtain certificates, and submit them to the WRD officials. We will also insist on increasing our water allocation. Currently, we are only getting 60% of our water allocation. Water theft is a major reason for this. Authorities have failed to address this issue.”
A senior official from the WRD department for PAP said, “Water has reached the tail-end areas. Farmers in the Vellakovil area are demanding an increase in their water allocation. For this, they will have to submit that request to the PAP planning committee. Appropriate steps can be taken only after that.”
He added, “Despite the intense summer, there is sufficient water in the PAP dams and we can provide five wettings of water for the third zone as planned.”
As for PAP, water is taken from the Parambikulam dam to the Thirumurthy dam through a contour canal.
Around 3,77,152 acres of agricultural land from Thiruppur and Coimbatore are being irrigated through the Thirumurthy dam. These are divided into four zones. Currently, water has been opened for the second wetting of the third zone.
The water level of Thirumurthy dam was 37.6 (60) and the storage level was 1,099 mcft (4,047). The inflow into the dam was 782 cusecs, and the outflow was 1,155 cusecs on Saturday.